ORIHUELA COUNCIL ACCUSED OF HIDING CALA MOSCA CONSTRUCTION

The construction of another 1,500 properties in the last unbuilt corner of the Coast on the seafront at Cala Mosca seems now to have been all but approved.

Although the plan has been modified, it still authorises the building on a further 2.96 hectares of the front of Sector D-1 Alameda del Mar, and has seemingly been on display on the council website, but apparently well ‘tucked away’ since 16 December.

The deadline to consult the documentation, and raise objections, either through the website (www.orihuela.es) or in the offices of the Planning Department in Orihuela, in the Plaza del Carmen, will end on 27 January.

Cambiemos Councillor and spokesperson Marta Guillén has said that her party will continue to object to the project but she fears that once her objections have been discussed, and inevitably dismissed by the authorities, the plan will simply move ahead and the last open space on the coast will disappear under tons of cement.

Guillen said that the information on the modification is “well hidden and difficult to find, even for me, and I know how the website works, which shows that, although the City of Orihuela Council should be the first to object to the construction of more apartment blocks on the last kilometer of virgin beach, by hiding the information they are preventing residents from finding out and placing their objections on an issue that has always created an intense debate and social rejection “.

Guillén, accused the PP government team of completely caving in and “paving the way for the builder”

The urbanization of the sector is already completed, with the streets laid out according to the original plan. Therefore, the developer will now have to modify the urbanization to fit the protected area.

The Councillor of Urbanism, Begoña Cuartero, who confirmed that the City has given the green light to continue with the process, said that “the only thing that has changed with the project is the adapting of these green areas to fit them around the protected area”.

Guillén has now been joined in her objections by FAOC (The Federación de Asociaciones de Orihuela Costa), and the Coastal Political Party, CLARO. Although at this stage it is not known what joint actions they intend to take each of the organisations is actively informing their members through social media as they call for the support of all environmentalists and coastal residents.

All three organisations also say that they are particularly concerned as the development of a further 1500 properties will place additional pressure on coastal infrastructure which is already finding it difficult to cope.